Common, dangerous and unusual items collected

Brent Laroque with Envirotec checks the pH of a liquid at the city complex at 1010 High St. for the city's Household Hazardous Waste Day on Saturday. Because the liquid turned blue, it has a pH of 10, which means it's not a very acidic substance.

Fluorescent tubes, dead batteries, antifreeze and vehicle oil were among items sitting at the city complex on Saturday.

Duane Grado, public works manager with the city’s engineering department, estimated between 250 and 300 vehicles passed through the complex at 1010 High St. W. during the city’s annual Household Hazardous Waste Day on Saturday. That is approximately the same number reached in the past five years.

“We will be doing it next year and possibly promoting it a little bit further,” said Grado. “This year we’ve seen quite an expansion in the fluorescent tubes. It is by far the most extensive substance that has come in.”

Workers from Envirotec sorted items and placed them in the appropriate plastic-lined barrel for transport to their yard.

One of the items brought in was a bag of 12-gauge live shotgun bullets. Other items included car batteries and many different types of chemicals such as pesticides, herbicides and strong acids.

“We’ve got stuff that you can barely tell what the label is, but generally you can tell just from the smell and such,” said Envirotec employee Brent Laroque. “We’ve got a lot of really strong acids like muriatic acid, which you don’t normally find anymore in household cleaners … You spill a few drops of that and yeah, it would definitely burn you.”

Another dangerous item collected was strychnine, a toxic pesticide.

“In terms of hazardous waste, it’s considered in the classification of the most hazardous,” said Laroque. “If somebody had gone down the road to the landfill and just thrown it and it burst open, it could’ve killed lots of wildlife all in the area. It’s extremely toxic.”

Brent Laroque with Envirotec checks the pH of a liquid at the city complex at 1010 High St. for the city's Household Hazardous Waste Day on Saturday. Because the liquid turned blue, it has a pH of 10, which means it's not a very acidic substance.